


Mind Link

by RadiantMoth



Category: Dimension 20 (Web Series), Unsleeping City
Genre: Found Family Dynamic, I'm warning you for unsleeping city finale spoilers RIGHT NOW, Post-Series, Telepathic Shenanigans, this isn't romantic at all i just want more platonic content for these two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 01:57:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21245618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RadiantMoth/pseuds/RadiantMoth
Summary: Sometimes even after the big fight, Pete takes the time to mind link with Kugrash.





	Mind Link

The spring sun streaming through the window woke Pete up. He sighed and threw off the covers, shuffling to the bathroom. Another morning routine went by. Brush his teeth, make a bowl of cereal, use magic to chill a bottle of water he was going to bring to work, and get dressed. 

“Alright…” Pete mumbled, patting his pockets to make sure he had his keys. “Last thing.”

He got down on his knees, folded his hands together and closed his eyes. "Dear rat god. I come to you with one request. What's the weather gonna be like today?"

A nearly imperceptible gust swirled around him, only enough to just lightly shift his jacket. Kugrash's voice sounded crackly, like it was coming through an old record instead of a telepathic mind link._ "Pete, kid, you don't have to call me rat god."_

"Yea but it's funny! Also, like, I feel like since you're a cosmic entity I should show you respect. So, what's with the weather?"

Kugrash sighed._ "It's gonna be sunny until noon, then clouds'll roll in and the wind will pick up, and rain between one o'clock and three forty five so try not to be outside then."_

"Thanks, rat god."

_"Hey can we talk for a bit longer?"_ Kugrash asked before Pete could shut down the link.

"Oh. Yea, of course." Pete didn't exactly have experience with what Kugrash was going through right now, but he realized that he was the only one that the former druid could directly talk to. That was probably lonely. 

_"You know what's funny? The first time Wally saw me as, y'know, a rat, he thought I was rat Jesus."_ The chuckling sound he made literally _felt_ like a warm summer day. Pete could almost smell the begonias. _ "Down in the subways.”_

“Yea, that does sound like Wally. How’s he doing as Santa, Sofie’s kind of been more in charge of that.” 

_"Oh, he’s great, he’s doing great! Real sweet, cares a lot… he’s got a lot of time, about uh…”_ Kugrash trailed off. _"I forgot how long months are.”_

Pete snorted. “You have infinite knowledge and you forget how months work?”

_"I am focusing very hard on being one consciousness right now, Pete.”_

“That’s fair.” He glanced at the clock. “Shit, I’ve got to go.”

_"Be careful on your walk! And, again, you don’t have to get down on your fuckin’ knees to talk to me!”_

“That’s also really funny, okay, bye!” Pete shut off the mindlink, grabbed his bag and ran out the front door.

* * *

"So what's it like to _be_ everything?" Pete asked as he shelved one of the books he’d received that morning. The closer they got to summer, the more time people seemed to have to give in their used books.

_"Eh, not too bad. It's a little hard to hold onto a sense of identity, but that's not so bad either."_

"Are you, like, technically me right now?"

_"I guess I technically am? Fuck dude. Oh, put that copy of _Simon vs._ in the biology section.”_

“Why?”

_"If you do some kid that really needs to read it’ll see it.”_

“Oh, sure, sure!” Pete fumbled through his stack to get to the copy of _Simon vs. The Homosapiens Agenda_ and slipped it on the shelf. “... Are there any other people who need these books in special places?”

_"Well…”_

Pete spent the afternoon running around putting books in the wrong place so they’d be there at the right time with the help of Kugrash. It almost felt like a rush of adrenaline from his good old delinquent days, but mostly it was a feeling of wonder at being the cause of serendipity.

_"Hey, hey, hey, one of them’s comin’ in right now!”_ Kugrash hissed at two thirty. Pete scrambled to get back behind the counter as the bell above the door rang.

A young lady, fairly close to Pete’s own age, walked in. She looked weary, like she’s been carrying a large weight for a long time. Pete watched with bated breath as she stepped into the law section. It took a minute, but eventually she frowned, pulled something off the shelf and brought it to the front.

“Hi, I think you’ve shelved this wrong,” She said, placing a book of Sara Ruhl plays on the countertop.

Oh, Rowan would be proud. 

“I don’t know, maybe it was in the right place. Maybe try something outside your comfort zone?” The woman hesitated, so Pete leaned forward. “We also have a thirty day return policy.”

She looked back down at the book, gears visibly turning. She flipped it over to check the price, then sighed and shrugged. “Okay. I haven’t read anything recreational in a long time.”

After she paid, she left the bookstore with the tome hugged to her chest. Pete watched her go, bursting into a grin as soon as the door clicked shut.

“That felt great! What’ll happen?”

_"She reads the book and becomes a fan of _Late_. After going to a local production, she realizes that her relationship with her boyfriend isn’t fulfilling and breaks up with him. Gets a cat, names it Blue, it’s cute.”_

“Wow, you really know all that?”

_"Yup. There’s a bunch of stuff I can’t really communicate because it’s so complex and unknowable, but I might as well use basic knowledge to improve stuff.”_

“Can you try and share that complex stuff with me?” Pete asked tentatively.

_"You sure?”_

“Sure, I’m sure.”

Pete’s brain was suddenly filled with static, like his consciousness had been wrapped in wool. It was dizzying, crowding out any other thought that he might have. It stopped as abruptly as it started, leaving Pete back in the bookstore and blinking rapidly to gather his thoughts. 

“Oh, _wow_.”

_"Yup. Honestly, there was a chance that you would have gone catatonic.”_

“What?!” Pete shouted. “Why did you share it with me then?!”

_"Because I knew you wouldn’t? You’re the Vox Phantasmus, your brain is used to weird shit.”_

Huh. “Yea, I guess that makes sense.” 

_"Now get back to work, you lazy bum.”_

“I’m not lazy, you’re distracting me!”

_"Keep tellin’ yourself that.”_

“You’re such an asshole,” Pete said even as he was grinning.

* * *

“I can’t believe the gang's all back together,” Sofia cooed. “I brought everyone sandwiches from the deli.”

“Thanks, Sof.” Kingston pulled out a chair at the table and sat down as she started passing out the sandwiches. The others were already seated, save for Pete standing off to the side.

Ricky raised a hand. “Hey, did you…”

“Of course, a salad for Mr. March!” Sofia smiled at him. She handed him the clear plastic bowl.

“Alright, alright, let’s get down to the task at hand,” Rowan raised her voice. “We’ve got a manticore roaming the streets and it’s only going to keep fucking shit up until we kill it or get it properly captured.”

“At least it’s not a Paragon this time, huh?” Pete kicked his heel into one of the cabinets, earning a halfhearted glare from Kingston.

“Yes, but we’re also not going to be fighting in a sub-dimension so we’ll have to be a lot more picky where we fight this thing.” She pointed to a spot on the map. “This neighborhood is relatively unpopulated, so I vote here.”

_”Neighborhood?_ As in where people live?” Kingston’s eyes were boring straight through Rowan. Pete could almost see her clothes smoldering. “We can’t just bring a scorpion monster into the middle of town. Central Park is a much better option, it’s wide open so there’s little to no chance of casualties.”

“It’s a big monster! If we fight it in and enclosed space we’ll have a much bigger advantage! Have you ever tried to maneuver in a little space when you’re the size of a truck?”

As Kingston and Misty continued to bicker, Sofia shot Pete a look that said _old timers, am I right?_ Pete felt a bit bad that he couldn’t contribute all that much to the conversation, but Kingston and Rowan had been doing this a lot longer than he had. They were way more experienced. 

“Pete!” Rowan called, yanking Pete out of his enthralling game of staring at the pictures on Kingston’s fridge. “Ask Kugrash!”

“Huh?”

“He’s a big… galaxy rat now, he’ll know which one is better to do.”

“Alright, alright, let me just get him on the line.” Pete opened up the mind link. _Hey Kug, we’re doing this mission and the gang wants your insight._

Pete waited for Kugrash to respond, say something. But he stood there for a full minute and the other end of the line was silent.

“Well, what’s he say?” Sofia asked. 

“He’s, uh, not saying anything.”

“Not saying anything?” Kingston frowned. “Has that ever happened before?”

“No, I-I mean I don’t think so?” Pete tried to think back to anything similar, but nothing came to mind.

“Well, that’s bad, ain’t it? He _is_ everything, so doesn’t that mean something is cosmically fucked up?”

“Maybe! I’m not a rat god!” Pete was starting to panic now. What could possibly have happened to… to… He couldn’t even describe it! Kugrash was supposed to _be_ everything now, he couldn’t get “disconnected” from himself! “Oh my god…”

“Great, now we have to worry about something strong enough to dispatch a pseudo-primordial,” Rowan sneered.

“How can something be only pseudo-primordial?” Ricky asked. 

She shrugged. “Listen, we haven’t really been able to classify Kugrash so I’ve been tossing out terms until one sticks.”

“Oh, okay. He’s metaphysical, right? Maybe that should be part of the definition.”

“Ooo, someone’s really been picking things up from Esther!”

“Thank you.”

Pete slammed his hand down on the table. “I don’t think this is what we should be talking about right now! What are we supposed to-”

_ **"PETE!"** _

“Fuck!” Pete threw himself back into the wall as Kugrash’s voice boomed in his head. “Christ!”

_”I’m sorry it took me so long to respond!”_

“Pete.” He was vaguely aware of Kingston shaking his shoulder. “What’s wrong?

“Kugrash just responded.” He curled his fingers against the kitchen linoleum. How had he ended up on the floor? “Ugh, gimme a sec.”

_Where were you?!_

_"I’m really sorry, I kind of… lost who I was.”_

_What does that mean?_

_"Only one part of me _is_ me, right? I lost which part that was. It happens sometimes, you’ve just never tried to call when it did.”_

“It’s okay,” Pete sighed, dragging his hands down his face. “He just forgot some stuff.”

“The all-knowing entity forgot something?” Sofia piped up.

“I’m not a metaphysicist!” He snapped. Ricky gave Rowan a thumbs up at “metaphysicist”.

“Well, is he good to give us advice for the manticore?” Kingston asked as he helped Pete back up to his feet. 

_Are you?_ Pete thought.

_"Sure, just give me a second.”_ Kugrash paused for a while. _”Can we keep talking after this?”_

There was a tinge of panic and desperation in his voice. Maybe he was scared that he was going to lose himself again. Pete couldn’t really begin to imagine the inner workings of an all expansive being.

_Of course._

* * *

It was a cold, rainy night when he started feeling like garbage. Mental garbage mostly, though a little bit physical. Even though he was sober now (and had been for months), Pete still made some less than stellar dietary choices. He probably needed to add in more fresh things than cherry tomatoes. 

His phone had been abandoned to the corner. Everyone else from the dream team was busy right now, except for Kingston, but he needed all the sleep he could get. It took a lot of prodding from Rowan and Pete to get him to even go home and sleep sometimes. He needed more excuses than Liz to be a little selfish sometimes. 

So Pete was sitting on his bed, alone. Kind of cold. Really wanting to eat an entire chocolate cream pie. If he didn’t talk to someone soon, he was going to make some bad decisions.

Pete swallowed hard and opened up a mind link, crossing his fingers that Kugrash would pick up. “Hey, uh, are you awake?”

He answered almost instantly. _"I actually never sleep. I don’t really have a singular body that needs it and I sort of draw on the energy of the multiverse to keep my conscious going, so I’ve got some pretty hefty reserves there.”_

“Yea, that makes sense.” Pete sniffed, wiping furiously at his eyes with one hand. “Fuck, sorry man.”

_"Are you doing okay right now?”_

"No, I’m great. The bookstore is doing great, Rowan has been dropping by with pastries a lot.” Pete paused. “You know exactly how I’m feeling right now, huh?”

_"Yea, but I want you to say it out loud.”_ Damn Kugrash and his considerate paternal instinct. 

“I feel bad for being sad. Like, everything really is going great right now. I’m sober, I have a job, all my friends are going steady. My dad is using my _name_. But I just feel like garbage, and I shouldn’t because everything is okay.”

Kugrash didn’t respond for a long time. Pete almost thought he’d phased out again, but then he spoke. _”Well, you don’t have to take my word--even though I do know everything--but recovery isn’t a straight path. You’re gonna loop back a lot because one little thing reminded you of the time you were unhappy, and maybe you don’t know what that thing is.”_

“Uh huh.” Pete cleared his throat, shifting around on the bed. “Did I ever hug you when you were… corporeal?”

_"I don’t think so. I’m everything so you can hug something and technically hug me, if you want.”_

Pete gathered up the blanket and squeezed it to his chest. Another warm feeling washed over him, but less of a summers day and more like the night of the winter dance in middle school when his date stood him off. When his mom had sat his crying ass down on the couch, wrapped him in fifty blankets and got him a mug of hot cocoa. The kind of warmth were cold was just held at bay by a heater or a caring hand, making it precious in a delicate kind of way.

“I feel pathetic hugging a blanket like it’s a person,” Pete sniffed, joking in an attempt to make his feelings less awkward.

_"It’s better than hugging a dirty rat, right?”_ Kugrash chuckled.

“I’m glad I can still talk to you.”

_"Me too, buddy.”_

“I feel kind of awkward saying this because he’s a better person now but… You’re a much better dad than mine was. And, yea, Kingston, but you never gave up on me, even when everyone else did.”

_"Ah, well, I can’t take all the credit. Sofie wasn’t about to let them kick out out that easy either.”_

Pete smiled, making a note to thank her again for that some time. “Thanks for always talking to me.”

_"I mean what else am I going to do?”_ Pete took that moment to remember what Kugrash’s smile looked like. _"You should get to sleep. You’ve got work tomorrow.”_

“Okay, okay. Hey, um, one more thing.”

_"Yea?”_

“Love you.”

_"...Love you too.”_

The other end of the link went dead, but he knew Kugrash was still there. He rolled over, pulled up the blanket, and got one of the best nights of sleep in his life.

**Author's Note:**

> That was my first d20 fanfic. It was mostly just something to have fun with. I've been chanting for Kugrash to eat the bagel since he first mentioned eating it and now here we are.
> 
> Kudos are nice, but comments are even better!


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